Given the Lord was so explicitly clear with Rebekah in Genesis 25:
The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So when she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb And two peoples from within you shall be divided; The one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger”
Genesis 25:22-24 ESV
I have some questions I would like to ask them as a couple:
1) Why does it seem like Rebekah never told this to Isaac?
2) Or, if she did, how come it is so evident that Isaac never engaged more actively in the work of raising up the younger in accordance with the word of the Lord? It appears that Isaac’s and Esau’s relevant interactions toward Jacob never involve the truth that the Lord had already spoken. Why is no one mentioning that at all?
3) What can account for the breakdown in communication between husband and wife?
4) Why did Rebekah seek to manipulate in order to help God fulfill this word?
5) Was this a holdover from Laban’s family and the behavior of the descendants of Terah, given we have patterns of conniving, manipulation, and favoritism, all without any inquiring of the Lord in places where doing that would have helped out?
6) I don’t hear many sermons preached on the possibility that Esau was lazy given he was a skillful hunter, and he could have gone without for the rest of the day instead of selling his birthright.
The Lord specifically told me not to address the psychological issues here, but to presently deal with the personal responsibility issues for this post. I am sure that I will write another post to deal with the psych issues at some point.
So, I am curious what y’all think is going on here and why they didn’t deal with these issues. Furthermore, what were the implications that did happen as a result of not dealing with these issues?
And I do frequently skirt the edges and do a lot of research in a bunch of divergent theological and philosophical streams, not the least of which (but pretty close to that) is Reformed theology.
I own an ESV Reformation Study Bible, mostly because of the reputation of R.C. Sproul, founder of Ligonier Ministries. Now, I am not at all a Calvinist, but I do at times like seeing what others have to say.
In the Bible, as I was reading the account of Laban’s introduction, I came across the following footnote for Genesis 24:29:
Laban takes responsibility for the family, probably because Bethuel is incapacitated.
From the footnotes on page 50, Reformation Study Bible, Reformation Trust.
Now, I can kind of see the argument of what is being staged here. Laban might genuinely be taking care of his family with some measure of the attitude of a protective son.
That said, I do not think this is the whole picture, because if you read the context of how Laban continues to act such as in 24:30-31:
As soon as he saw the [gold] ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms…. He said , “come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside?”
And later in 30:35-36:
But later that day, Laban removed the mail goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in charge of his sons. And he set a distance of three days journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.
thus removing anything that Jacob could have used genetically to increase the size of his profits,
And in 31:7:
Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times
And in 31:14:
Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance ledt to us in our father’s house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, as he has indeed devoured our money.
We can clearly see that Laban’s motives are pretty questionable, given time. It does not appear that Laban is interested, when he said “Come in, o blessed of the Lord!” with anything other than “how can I get a piece of this?”
Dude appeared to be drooling over those camels, and over that gold, and appeared to want a piece of what belonged to Jacob.
I think, as we read these notes and thoughts written, as others will doubtless point out some flaw when they read my thoughts as well, we need to be careful to read the context for a given verse and not just assume that part of the picture = the whole picture.
Laban may have had some altrusitic reason for being present, or he may have been partially a scoundrel. We understand that Jacob, in a couple of places, was a scoundrel. And in the matter of the birthright (Genesis 25:29-34), Jacob was NOT a scoundrel, but just a good businessman who took advantage of an opportunity handed to him to PURCHASE, NOT STEAL, his brother’s birthright, a thing his brother despised, which partly fulfilled the prophecy given to his mother.
And instead of looking at Esau as a brother who was robbed, perhaps looking at him as a soulish individual who did not deal with or heed the Spirit’s prompting would provide a fuller picture of him.
The bottom line is that we need to be able to see the whole picture, warts and all, and learn the lessons that come in those pictures.
And, in our reading, I think, as people with an overdeveloped sense of fairness, we need to, instead of casting judgment on God’s decision-making process, see why God responded to Esau the way He did.
And, back to our topic, why God responded to Laban the way he did.
…all it would take is a large enough carrot, and the enemy could lead us wheresoever he wants us.
You see, the devil could promise us a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, or 100 Republican Senators and 435 Republican Congressmen or -women and conservatism all around….
…and if we are so easily-led based on who promises what pertaining to one issue, such as abortion, and we fail to examine the rest of their record during the political off-season, when they are not stumping…
…he could slide in agenda after agenda of control and an increase of the military-industrial complex with a side-helping of the increased police state as was started in 2001….
…and we would not recognize it until it was too late….
Indeed, my concern is whether we are on the right side of an issue because we have been lulled into a place of being controlled by….our emotions, our convictions, or a divided personality.
There is only one thing to which we ought to yield control: our King.
And in His authority, we should walk in circumspect understanding and realize that, this is not merely about controlling a majority of the government machinery.
Rather, it is about winning a majority of the hearts of humanity.
We haven’t learned yet how to walk as Wilberforce, and we have not yet learned the skill necessary to have those hundred million conversations.
And we desperately need to learn how to converse. And that well.
A clear-eyed war for the unborn is not won at the ballot box, or even in the high courts of men.
Rather, it is won in the tenderness and affections of men.
We must learn afresh how to appeal to heaven with greater force than we appeal to men.
And we must learn now to break free from the siren song of promises that litter our election seasons, and discern the spirits of those running, for I fear we only hear what they say they claim to believe, when our vote is on the line.
It’s time to adopt a different strategy for handling the issues.
Many of you that know me know I am friends with Arthur Burk.
And for those of you that are friends with him, you know how deeply he wars against the welfare and poverty spirits.
Neither of which are limited to finanical matters.
But, in the last few days, I have noticed a trend among some of my friends, and those that think of SLG as a home, and the smaller group I co-lead as a tribe or a church family.
Two changes occurred in the 1980s which dramatically impacted the core values of Western Christianity.
One was the emergence of inner healing and deliverance (called personal ministry for the purposes of this article) and the other was the emergence of the “Fivefold Ministry” with the focus on apostles and prophets.
The combination of the two had devastating results.
On the Fivefold side of things, it massively established a two-tier Christian culture. To have an elite group, you have to have a non-elite group. When you have the group in power, there has to be a powerless group. When you have those who hear from God for others, there has to be the group that can’t hear from God.
This dynamic has recurred regularly throughout church history. There are always those who lust for power and always those who delighted in powerlessness because it justifies their lifestyle of dependence, and always those in the middle who go with the flow to be agreeable.
It is a viable milieu for the emergence, time and again, of first class and second class Christians.
But in the confluence of the Fivefold and personal ministry, we developed a much larger “upper class” than the usual clergy/laity split.
Now there is a small army of people who have supposed power with God or with demons, and still a substantial pool of people who are needy and go to the power people to get fixed.
And THIS is the core issue.
Arthur Burk, Why Some Events Are Not Recorded
Gang, as much as some of us “need” what only Arthur has and can provide, we have not stopped to unpack with the Trinity what He has for us to unpack. We treat every “no” as a church rejection, and we think if we beg harder, the “no” will turn into a “yes”.
And we don’t realize that the Fivefold Ministry, and the satanic view of covering that we in the charismatic church have developed, have both caused us to view the church as divided into the spiritual haves and the spiritual have-nots.
And we have reduced ourselves from adults who can chew filet mignon to helpless babies that are sucking on the breasts of whatever the Fivefold will let us have.
NEWS FLASH: There is no distinction. There is not a division. If you think in terms of the anointed apostle or prophet or bishop or pooh-bah who hears from God, then you are also likely to come to the conclusion, whether spoken or unspoken, that there are people who do not have the access and are powerless without it.
You are not helpless. You do not depend on God’s man or woman to find whatever you need. You do not depend on someone recording their truth so you can have it.
Truly, we have all the access we can handle, and honestly, Father’s desire to give always outstrips our desire to take in.
Put differently, the Fivefold has reduced us to helpless people who think there are people who can hear, which by reason means we also believe there are people who cannot hear.
People more often than not do not hear because they do not want to hear. Or they only want to hear a part, and they don’t want to hear the rest.
What remains for us is to reject and throw out the current manifestation of the Fivefold, and to seek the Lord for HIS manifestation of what it really should look like.
For what I am about to say, there is no apology, but a challenge to the larger spiritual warfare and deliverance community.
I start with a question.
What was the good in Nimrod’s design?
What I mean is, we have a glut of theories that float around about his origins, and we often make snap judgments about his life and about others in Scripture and real life.
We refer to this as freeze-framing, and it is a horrible, noisome practice.
Frankly, I am not sure I buy the Nephilim theory as it pertains to Nimrod, nor a bunch of other things we usually teach about him.
And sure, he came from Ham, and we know about how Ham uncovered Noah’s nakedness and the curse that came from that on the love child between Noah’s wife and Ham.
However, what if we are wrong because we only looked at a part of Nimrod’s behavior and missed a good package because we were mesmerized by…GASP…Babylon!!
Especially if we are to blindly believe the idea that he was damned from the get-go, and we take that phrase, “a mighty man BEFORE the L-rd” to mean “AGAINST the L-rd.” The Hbelrew there is pretty ambiguous.
We should take a good, long look and be ready to toss out anything that was too hastily constructed.
Such as a belief that all things that were tied to Nimrod were completely demonic, and “how dare we question that belief at all!” is unwarranted without more proof than we have.
Truly, this season is a season for a lot of deep questions to be asked.
Indeed, we have a raft of people who claim to “be Bereans”, but will not search a matter out (Proverbs 25:2). It results in the following atrocious behavior in the leadership of charismatic movements.
We have people who preach, claiming to have, and I quote, “read in commentaries that eagles break their beaks off, pull out their feathers out, and pull their claws out and are suddenly reborn with new beaks, feathers, and talons, and live for another 40 years or so”.
We have one man who claims to have led a Bible translation team, and yet is not revealing sources. This is dishonest scholarship.
We have people who are prophesying that this Super Bowl means one thing, when they also prophesied other grandiloquent things about previous Super Bowls that did not come to pass. This is a blemish on a necessary ministry in the church, namely prophecy.
And so we are bringing the same flamboyance of refusing to examine Scripture well, and applying that refusal to examine in our caveleir attitudes toward warfare and deliverance.
Some examples of this are hasty and shoddy “research” are:
The idea that Jezebel is a bigshot spirit (Reality check: she is an imp and servant of Baal).
That all women with any sort of Type A gene are under her influence (Reality check: some women are wound a little tighter).
That this or that number combination means this prophetic thing (Reality check: sometimes a football, baseball, basketball score is just a score. And sometimes a solar eclipse is a solar eclipse. Believe me, when the moon turns to blood, you will know the difference).
The nonsensical foolishness of preachers who claim the “blood moons” and “shemitah” will cause the collapse of world economies. I am looking at your Mark Biltz and John Hagee.
Gang, it is okay that the blood moon tetrad over the seven Salem cities in the US meant nothing. It was a mere rhythmic standard clockwork, and predictable sign, like a clock.
As R. Loren Sandford said a few years back about the blood moons:
At the risk of making some people angry, I say that the coming total eclipse over North America is simply a wonderful, amazing event that was predetermined by the mechanics of the universe from the time God first said, “Let there be light.” It is a “sign” of nothing, despite the claims of those who wish to spiritualize it. Remember all the hoopla over the blood moon tetrad? What happened? Nothing. Or the shemitah that said the economy would collapse in the fall of 2016 on the seven year cycle? What happened? Nothing. Some of us said as much, but that didn’t stop the prophetic prognostications that became an embarrassment, thus discrediting an essential ministry in the body of Christ for many at a time when good prophetic ministry is desperately needed. If you’ve gotten all worked up over some supposed prophetic significance of the eclipse, I say, “Calm down and just enjoy it!”
For those engaged in this discussion, think of it this way. When the long hand and the short hand on the clock align at the 12 o’clock position and appear to be one hand, you don’t think of that as a sign from God, do you? It’s no different with the rotation and orbit of the earth, sun and moon. It is a natural event that is the product of predetermined paths of heavenly bodies set in motion like clockwork by God at creation. It is the sign of an orderly universe, but to insist that it must be a sign from God about impending events is tantamount to astrology, the claim that fixed movements and positions of heavenly bodies somehow determine our fate on earth. The Bible clearly debunks that. So, I urge some of us once more to calm down and simply enjoy this amazing display in the heavens.
R Loren Sandford, August 13, 2017, Facebook post
Sometimes a moon in the sky is just a moon in the sky. And sometimes the time 11:11 is just the minute after 11:10. If I assumed that everything had some super secret communique from the Almighty, and there were no coincidences, then I might drive myself crazy with analysis.
There are such things as allowances for coincidences in G-d’s economy precisely because we were made.to discern between that which is coincidental and that which is not.
And we were made to detect what is a well-reasoned and well-considered argument of Scripture from that which is not.
And sometimes, a biblical character, gang, that we normally think of as all evil, has some redeeming features, as hard as that might be to swallow.
Sometimes, we need to see things like the repentance of Manasseh vs. the arrogance of Josiah WHO DIED IN A WAY IDENTICAL TO AHAB in the same arrogance of his uplifted heart.
And there are those who just think we have a number of parts of the Bible all figured out, and that this means this and that means that.
But then s e think e have learned all here is to know about the fullness of Scripture, suddenly it surprises us at a pinch, and our spirits get awakened to another facet of its infallibility and mystery.
In the case of Nimrod, it would appear the founder of Babel’s life went unexamined. Evidently, someone decided that “before the L-rd” meant “against the L-rd” and others agreed to it without slowing their collective rolls and reexamining whether or not they are off. And we took that interpretation whether or not we were right or wrong, hook, line, and sinker.
Something needs to happen that forces us as followers of Yeshua to slow down and really consider if we got it right with respect to Nimrod and others.
To paraphrase Richard Feynman:
Our failures to hold back and deeply consider and qualify what we think we know have led to many overinflated claims from pulpits that have burned people who followed Christ, and those who have dared to challenge or correct what was said from the pulpit were not met with consideration or understanding, but branded to be full of a religious spirit.
I have seen that one time and again.
I would like to offer the following counsel in the case of Nimrod.
What if there was flat-out gold and treasure in his design?
What if that boldness was meant to communicate something about the nature of G-d, and, instead of seeing that boldness as a lion in him and blessing it in both him and others, we cursed it, and used it that bad interpretation to curse others?
Yes I know what the name Nimrod means. Yes it may mean “rebel”.
But consider the intent of what it could have alternatively meant.
What if “rebel” was really meant to convey someone who was made to rebel against the kingdom of darkness?
Given the world was, according to some, handed over to the ruler of the world, the serpent, what if what Nimrod was made to rebel against was the serpent and lead a rebellion against him?
What if the spiritual warfare community, in cursing Nimrod wholesale, missed an important piece in the study and consideration of design?
What if, in the head of gold from Daniel’s vision, G-d was communicating something in the design of both Nimrod and Babylon that was supposed to be and never came to fruition, and we have just been roundly cursing people who happen to possess a like treasure to that which G-d put into Nimrod?
What if there is a Babylonian Blessing to counter the Babylonian Heresy in an opposite spirit, true to SLG form?
What if there was good in Nimrod, and we have just been twisting it and robbing ourselves of something that G-d wanted articulated through Nimrod and blessed in others?
Just, my bottom line to y’all, is:
Please, for the love of every good and perfect gift, slow your roll and SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY EXAMINE if there was something good there that you can articulate.
If the beginning of your kingdom or empire is made to be good, then it is possible that you also were designed by our good G-d to have ambition or drive or the germ to be an empire-builder or a father or mother of many.
Maybe that germ to build, even with imperfect materials, has been cursed, because people have said it is demonic to have drive or be a Type-A personality.
Gang, my counsel is to consider deeply, and ask “is there treasure in a place I was refusing to look because every other charismatic said there was not?”
“Am I only seeing a partial view as the whole of a matter and not seriously, deeply, and carefully examining an matter before I render judgment and sentencing on it?”
There was good in Nimrod, and sometimes G-d puts a turbocharged engine in a muscle car so that car can do a quarter-mile at a time.
He doesn’t put a tired gerbil in a Corvette, gang.
Some of us are going to idle a little higher in RPM or speed than others, and that is fine. That just means we were made for a different load.
A Clydesdale is not an Arabian Stallion.
And Secretariat was neither of those breeds.
Consider the place of ambition and empires. They can serve a good purpose.
And sometimes we need mighty hunters who walk in G-d’s presence and are sanctified.
Just a little bit of a different spin on the matter.
So, as you work with others to see Jesus heal them, look to see if there is a treasure that is not usually celebrated in them, and look for good ways to celebrate sanctified articulations of that gift.
You just might have a Nimrod on your hands, who can war against the enemy’s twisted manifestation of Babylon.
If you will see them become equipped and released.
….I do not merely see the revengeful heart of a Despot bent on fighting our machinations, as some have argued…
Rather, what I see is the heart of a Father who is radically concerned with humanity falling into the trap of turning away from Him and falling for the delusion they do not need Him.
When we are so self-dependent and strong that we have no need of the Lord, because we can solve every problem through our “technology” (a la Howard Stark), then He gets involved in reminding us that we were made to interact with Him.
He did not merely create us to interact with ourselves and forget about Him. Rather, He made us to continue with Him in every stage and to seek Him.
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai [Ai] on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD
Genesis 12:8
As I read this passage this morning, and came ot the commentary beneath the text, in my readthrough, it occurred to me that “calling upon the name of the LORD” was what happened in the days of Seth, and was what frequently set apart those who were delivered from those who were not.
Reading this through a New Testament lens, “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21). Saved from what? Destruction, death, and a life of futility? Yes, and more besides. Saved to what? Eternity, transformation, birthright. Not merely changed in mindset.
Taking μετάνοια and extending it to mean “changing the way you think”, well, doing word studies with a Biblical language robs a word of the richness of its context. If anyone is in Christ, their mind isn’t the only thing that is changed. Everything about them is changed (2 Cor. 5:17-21). This isn’t merely about recovering what we have forgotten about ourselves. This is us being completely changed into something different. Not just a recovery of some conscsiousness, but the recovery, or better yet, the stepping of our whole being into a new reality. All the old ways get unzipped and demolished, and we begin the process of, not becoming and newer version of the old self, but a completely new thing. The old does in fact begin the process of passing away.
We step out of the slavery and the destruction of the darkness of both sin and bondage to the enemy, and into freedom and the transformation of every thing into what He originally designed for us.
When we say we are recovering what we forgot, we are minimizing the level of transformation that G-d puts into us. He is not merely interested in making us to think differently, but to respond differently.
All as a result of calling upon His name.
Abram, here, called upon the name of the only one that could deliver him and set him aright.
And though we get the idea of changing the way we think from the Koine word μετάνοια, it is so much more deep and comprehensive than thought.
If the Lord delivers you from the old, He is not merely going to deliver you from old thought patterns. He intends you to walk in something with dramatically greater depth than mere thought. He is going to set His name upon you (referencing Numbers 6:27, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Deuteronomy 12:11, 1 Kings 5:5, Ezra 6:12, and 1 Corinthians 6:19), and where His name will be, His presence will be. And as you run into the presence of His name, you will be safe in accordance with how He defines safety.
Gang, I bless you to find safety in His name, and to dwell in His name, and to be called by His named, and transformed through His name.
Be at peace as you are called by His name. For as you are called by his name and turn from whatever is destroying you, he will hear, forgive, and heal not just you, but also the land where you are, spiritually, emotionally, and physcially.
And in the presence of that Name, you will be able to learn and weave together the principles that will not just transform those around you, but you completely.
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?”. He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
Matt. 17:24-27
“Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.”
Proverbs 17:9 ESV
Unnecessary offense…it can entangle just about anyone. Christian, believing Jew, unbeliever, you name it. And no one is immune to the opportunity to become offended.
Recently, an opportutnity came for me to be offended. And here is the kicker; I might have been justified in my anger.
The problem, though, with justified anger, is that, if not correctly handled…
In your anger do not sin.
And “ don’t sin by letting anger control you.”
From Ephesians 4:26, 2011 NIV and NLT, respectively
…can result in us becoming entrapped and capable of being used by the clowns (2 Timothy 2 :23-26). Speaking truth to a person and confronting them directly in private is one thing; speaking to the matter in public without being direct is another.
DISCLAIMER: I am preaching to myself more than I am preaching to anyone else, given I have majored on screwing up in this matter more than anyone I know.
In publishing ablaze our offenses without first checking with the Spirit of G-d, and without framing the offense in the context of the whole problem, we can unwittingly poison others, or get them into agreement with others, or cause destruction to fan out from our circle into other circles, destruction that we did not intend.
And it can empower a spirit that will coil and twist our words in order to make it impossible for others to hear their heart.
This word-twisting spirit is one of the markers for the twisting of sound, and it can negatively affect all forms of our communication between us and those with whom we are communicating.
In processing injustices, we must do a few things well.
Step through the Lord’s gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise of who he is and what he has done.
Become acquainted with the principles that govern His nature as the Just and Supreme Judge of the Universe, and, more importantly, as our Loving And Affectionate Father.
Deal with sins and offenses in our own hearts before the King, if they are present.
Speak and acknowledge the injustice, AND the reality that we might not have the whole picture or UNDERSTANDING of the hearts of those with whome we are vexed.
Be willing to take ownership of whatever process or series of responsibilities the Judge of the Earth (from Genesis 18:25) imposes on us.
Be willing to apologize to whatever people we have wronged before we seek judgment with respect to our own issue or offense.
Be willing to be made conformable to His death if that is where he is leading us (Romans 8:29; Philippians 3:10; and, most importantly, Revelation 12:11c WHICH WE OVERLOOK CHRONICALLY, which says, they overcame [the dragon] by not loving their lives so much that they shrank back from accepting a death sentence). You might have to die to yourself and your right to be heard. I don’t know what the process looks like for you and your particular situation. But in order to seek a win/win, you might have to lose something that you really hold dear. You might not. But you might. We don’t merely overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony. And that is no a stylish message. We overcome fully only if we accept all three parts of Revelation 12:11, and that means our lives are subject to his purposes.
Recognize that God may engage in a play that looks like a sacrifice or a gambit because he plays a very long game on a 27 dimension chess board, and he often makes moves that look like idiocies to our sensibilities.
Accept whatever judgment the Judge gives you, and whatever verdit.
Gang, our usual process in dealing with injustice is so flimsy and disengaged from the full principles of the Scripture and reality that we just yell about it and so Facebook becomes Facebitch. And that is not the design of the platform. Rather, we need a more robust and well-built, honed, skillful approach to correction and rebuke and truly receiving each other. That only comes with us developing a robust theology of a culture of honor that is rooted in a culture of dignity, which is why honor is no repair for shame.
We must recognize, as we come to each other, the God-given and inherent dignity of the one speaking, even if they may speaking in an undignified manner.
Given wounds and parts and SRA/CRA, we really have to extend some grace to one another (αλλαλους) while the offended party speaks their diatribe and we must, if appropriate and pormpted by Father, attempt to reconnect with that person.
The principle here is rooted in love, and an attempt to not cause unnecessary offense in others. That was Messiah Yeshua’s motive in dealing with the temple tax situation: do not unnecessarily catalyze an offense in someone. Because, contentions are like iron bars. And those who are walled up in their city because of needless offense cannot and often will not be reasoned with.
This is just my take, gang. Feel free to eat the meat and spit out the bones on this one. And for further understanding, below is a link to a YouTube video featuring John Bevere discussing this topic generally.
It is is a treasure when you find a friend who is sensitive enough to parts of your design that they will pick up on those sensitivities and check in to make sure they haven’t hurt you.
I am learning that…
While I revel in fixing things aand using tools to build and getting my hands dirty doing what is considered traditionally manly work, as that was something my father never helped me unpack growing up…
I also have a very soft segment of my inner person that really gets easily run over.
I had a situation today where I didn’t realize that I needed someone to make sure I was doing okay because they felt like they might have run over me verbally, and I immediately offered a knee-jerk response that I was fine.
A portion of my spirit spoke up today and said that this friend picked up on this very sensitive aspect of my design and checked in with me accordingly.
I said all this to say the following.
Men, if you have a softer side to you, it is not you being gay. Rather, it is you just being more sensitive. That emotional side that feels like a “girl” responding may be your spirit responding because you were made to be tender and emotional in many cases and able to pick up some of the subtler dynamics out of you.
Attempting to reprogram the “unmanly” or “feminine” parts of you can do great damage.
Likewise, if you have some more more masculine, son-like, filial parts that need to pick up a tool and do grunt-trench work, likewise unpack those.
The aim is to be the whole person God made you, and to embrace the builder/fighter dynamics AND the sensitive and emotional, mothering, bridal aspects.
“And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.”
So, while engaging with reading the Scripture this morning, I had the following thoughts. And in other places, I have said these things before, but it may bear repeating.
There are preachers, teachers, and others who like to take Adam’s quote, “the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me…, and I ate”, as a joke in sermons or teachings, saying, “and men have been blaming women ever since.”
But, if you will notice in the passage, does the Lord ever stop to sort out the interpersonal relational issues of mistrust or trauma at this moment. Not at all. Rather, what He does is respond not by saying “shame on you for blaming your wife, or passing the buck”.
He also does not ask the serpent for his side of the story, which tells you that He knows something about this serpent that we may not know.
A Bit Of Background For the Unaware
For those of you not familiar with the serpent described here, that term “serpent” is a reference to Satan.
In very simplified terms, Satan was a messenger who stood in the presence of the Divine Council.
He started a rebellion, and deceived many other created heavenly beings into following him, and they sought to overthrow God. He was beautiful at that time, before the rebellion began, and the pride and iniquity that was found in him twisted him into the serpent that we meet in Genesis 3.
Granted, there is more I can say, but that is a brief read on this critter. Below are a couple of good links that will discuss things like the Divine Council that will further you understanding on the serpent.
Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch
What God does is begin the process of responding to the situation in the garden by continuing from the story that was started before the garden.
He starts by addressing the serpent.
He does not start by addressing Eve’s behavior, or Adam’s behavior.
He starts with the serpent.
Let that sink in. When you screw up and do what the enemy gives you to do, the Lord is not going to burn you or beat you to begin with. He is going to handle the clowns first. He is then going to gather you up and because He is your Father, He is willing to coach you to a place of victory, and show you the process for undoing the mess in your life, piece by piece, and step by step. He is Father, not Slavedriver. A father instructs, counsels, and does not provoke their children to wrath ( Ephesians 6:4), and given God is the ultimate father, He is going to work according to that reality, and is not going to exasperate or provoke us to wrath.
Now, He might lead us in ways we do not understand, and some things we might question. But it is not God’s way to needlessly do things in order to frustrated or exasperate us as an end in themselves.
God responds to the situation, not by asking the serpent what he has done (God knows what the serpent has done, both in heaven, and on earth), but by telling the serpent what is going to happen in response to the serpent’s attempt at continuing the rebellion begun in heaven here on earth.
The Lord, for the moment in Genesis 3, is not interested in the squabbles and the jokes that we can make about how men are or how women are; rather, He starts by mentioning:
That the serpent will ultimately be defeated,
How the serpent will be defeated (using the fruit that came from the woman), and
That the Lord will accomplish this using these fallen creatures.
Translation: we humans are still part of God’s purpose to transition all of creation from glory through fall into further glory.
To be sure, in our preaching and teaching of this passage, for us to take the points that are deemphasized, and to emphasize them at the expense of the areas that God emphasizes, is problematic.
For us to make a joke about how a woman is (gullible, easily deceived, led astray, unintelligent) or how a man is (liars, blame-shifters) is anything but redemptive.
And our instruction and dealing with the text must be wholly and finally redemptive.
And for us to further miss the punchline from God’s perspective, namely that He was still going to use Adam and Eve, and that they were still his A-Team, that He made for Himself no other choice than they, and that they were still part of His plan for redemption, is for us to miss the point of the story.
For Us, A Picture of The Redemptive Power of Our King and How He Deals With Us As Sons
Redemption takes place in the midst of our mess, in the midst of our blame-shifting and our shirking of responsibility. And in that truth we can celebrate and move into enjoying God and watching Him triumph over the foe and the avenger (Psalm 8:2), and watching Him choose to maintain a connection with Adam who was still the son of God.
Remember, you are God’s son. This day he has begotten you, dear one (Psalm 2:7).
Furthermore, I would exhort you to allow the Lord to decide how He wants to handle your adversaries.
And finally, realize that, even in the midst of your deep sin, Father stands with you and really adores you. There is a tenderness in Father that is runs toward you, and does not beat or abuse you maliciously.
Do not miss the forest of expounding on the extravagant fullness of God’s love and affection for the trees of a couple of callous and glib remarks on “how men are” or “how women are”.
And don’t make your life’s work a disproportionate mess of telling people how sinful they are, at the expense of exclaiming how unfathomably amazing our King is, gang.
He puts the focus on the many places where he wants to place the focus. He handles the serpent, and the man and woman’s failings, and then he reframed their perception of reality in accordance with the truth. Pertaining to the truth, I will continue this discussion in the next post.
Above is the Bible Project video on Spiritual Beings: Mind you, two areas where I disagree with the BP authors of this video are the ideas that we are told to “rise above our dirty origins” and that we are “lowly humans”. Making fun of the fact that we were created from the red clay (Hebrew Adam) and calling the origins of our bodies as “ewww gross dirty” curses the dirt, and we need to learn as believers and followers and stewards of this planet not to curse the dirt. Otherwise, this is a very solid video.
https://www.amazon.com/Unseen-Realm-Recovering-Supernatural-Worldview/dp/1577995562 This is a book by Michael Heiser discussing many of these topics and more in-depth.
